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FEB.
4 — Goshen Lets Bethel Sweep Slip By In 83-85 Loss
Leafs
take late lead but can't come up with key plays in sixth
straight defeat |
Goshen, IN — Saturday afternoon in the
Roman Gingerich Center, there was all the drama, all the excitement and
the all the energy one would expect out of the Mid-Central Conference’s
northern-most cross-town rivalry.
Unfortunately for most of the capacity crowd in attendance, it
did not have the storybook ending.
Goshen (13-13, 5-8) rallied back from a 19-point, first-half
deficit to take a late lead over the visiting Bethel College Pilots, but
could not hang on in a heartbreaking 83-85 loss. The result gave Bethel
its first MCC win of the season, while the Leafs stumbled to their sixth
straight league defeat.
“This was a well, hard played game by both teams,” said Stan
Daugherty, Goshen head coach. “I thought that it was probably our
best overall effort since (senior) Tyler (Sheerer) went down with the
injury (click
here for article). As so many of our games in the league, it
comes down to who will make the plays at the end.”
Early on in Saturday’s contest, there was little for the Gingerich
Center’s jam-packed crowd to get excited about. After a pair of
Goshen buckets opened the game for a 4-0 Leafs’ lead, Bethel reeled
off a 38 to 15 run over the game’s next 12 minutes to grab a 38-19
advantage, the Pilots’ largest lead of the afternoon. Goshen would
close the gap to 17 points, but Bethel pushed its lead back to 19 on two
more occasions — the last coming in a 42-23 advantage with 5:18
remaining in the half — before Daugherty called a timeout to refocus
his squad.
“The first 10 minutes of the game were frustrating because we
didn’t handle their press as well as I thought we should have,” Daugherty
said. “Once we made some changes there, I felt we played pretty
well the last 30 minutes of the game. We didn’t have many turnovers
and we moved the ball well for the majority of that time.”
Goshen began to click on all cylinders in the final five minutes
of the half, as a pair of free throws from senior Eric Walsh helped spark
an 18 to five Leafs’ run to close the period with a flurry. Three
consecutive three-point field goals ignited the Roman Gingerich Center
crowd into a furor, as Goshen’s run was halted only partially by
a Pilots’ three-point bucket with :23 remaining. After trailing
by 19 points on three occasions, Goshen trailed by just a 41-47 score
at the intermission.
“That stretch late in the first half was the kind of basketball
that has defined our program over the last few years,” said Cory
Furman, Goshen assistant coach. “We got some good transition opportunities
off of our defense, and guys were making the right reads and
knocking down open shots. Once we got rolling, guys just started feeling
the game.
We haven’t had much of that since Tyler went down.”
The positive trend continued for Goshen at the outset of the
second period, as a pair of buckets from Walsh cut Bethel’s lead
to just 45-47 with 18:27 remaining. A classic Bethel-Goshen match up ensued
from that point, as the game would remain tight — Bethel led by
no more than five points and led by a single point on five different occasions — through
the game’s 7:02 mark. It was at that point that the Pilots extended
to a 78-70 lead, and the crowd began to grow anxious.
A huge three pointer from senior Jordan Buller turned that anxiety
into excitement on the Leafs’ next possession, however, while a
defensive stop and a made layup from sophomore Brice Hartman closed the
gap to 75-78 with 5:27 to play. The teams traded a pair of made free throws
on the ensuing offensive possessions, setting up a physical homestretch
that produced a near two-minute stretch of scoreless basketball. Twice
Goshen trainers had to come onto the floor to attend to injured Leafs’ players,
while junior Matt Crawford suffered gashes to both his eye and his lip.
With 3:38 to play, Walsh began his trips to the free throw line
again. After making just two out of four on Goshen’s next two possessions,
Bethel was able to score inside to make the score 82-79, Pilots, with
2:59 remaining. A bucket by Buller cut the Bethel lead to a point at the
2:40 mark, while Goshen was able to come up with a big stop on its next
defensive trip.
Following that stand — and the crowd at a high volume — it
was junior David Haire that drove and drew contact at the rim with 1:56
remaining. His two made free throws gave Goshen its first lead — an
83-82 advantage — since the 17:57 mark in the first half.
Sadly, it was a lead that would be short-lived.
Goshen forced a Bethel miss on the Pilots’ ensuing possession, but
came up empty on what Daugherty called “a great shot” with
:52 on the game clock. The onus would be placed back on the defensive
end of the floor.
Again, the Leafs responded, but could not avoid the officials’ whistle.
Hartman was called for a foul with :32 to play, sending the Pilots’ Robbie
Lightfoot to the free throw line. He made the first — tying the
game at 83-83 — but missed the second, and as Goshen came down with
the rebound the crowd erupted.
But the ball wasn’t completely secured.
In battling with Bethel players for the rebound, Crawford could
not hang on to the ball, sending it back to the Pilots with :24 remaining.
Following timeouts from both teams, Bethel ran a play for the win. Walsh
was whistled for a foul on the Pilots’ Kory Lantz with :04 remaining,
sending the Pilots back to the charity stripe for the go-ahead points.
Lantz buried both, giving his team an 85-83 lead.
Electing not to call a timeout after the second make, Walsh rushed
the ball into Buller, who streaked down the floor looking to either force
overtime or go for the win. With time an obvious factor, Buller pulled
up from just inside the volleyball line, and let a beautiful looking jump
shot go as the buzzer sounded.
His shot was just long.
“Jordan had a really good look considering the circumstance,” Furman
said. “Coach Daugherty gives me liberty in working with our perimeter
players, and one drill we do almost once a week is range-building.
Basically, we shoot a lot from as far out as possible. Jordan
can knock that shot
down fairly consistently. But you hate to see a game come down
to that.”
Statistically speaking, the game was as close on paper as it
was on the hardwood. Goshen shot 48.3 percent for the afternoon (28 of
58) while Bethel knocked in 53.3 percent of its tries (32 of 60). The
Leafs held slight rebounding advantage (27 to 24) and committed just one
more turnover than the Pilots (nine to eight). Bethel was better from
behind the three-point arc (seven of 15, 46.7 percent compared to Goshen’s
five of 18, 27.8 percent) but that stat included a one of nine Leafs’ effort
from three in second-half play (11.1 percent). Goshen could have helped
itself at the foul line — the team made just 22 of 29 freebies,
75.9 percent, including a 15 of 22 effort in the second half, 68.2 percent.
Bethel knocked in a total 14 of 19 at the line (73.7 percent).
“I was pleased that we never panicked when we got down and we
fought our way back to be in a position to win in the last two
minutes,” Daugherty
said. “I liked the shots that we got late in the game. We just had
to make a couple of more baskets and get one more stop to win
the game. We missed some free throws in the second half that may have
allowed us
to have a bigger lead in the final minute. In a game this close,
there are several plays that can determine the outcome.”
Walsh led the scoring charge for the fifth straight game for
Goshen, tallying a game-high 25 points and 11 rebounds. Hartman finished
with 16 points on a seven of 11 shooting performance, while Buller
scored 14
to go with a season-high nine assists. Haire scored nine points,
while classmate Willie Frazier scored eight before fouling out
in just 20 minutes
of work. Sophomore Tyler Stotler carded seven points in the loss.
Goshen was looking to corral its first regular-season sweep of
the Pilots since the current version of the MCC was created. Instead,
the Leafs have to settle for a split (the team beat Bethel by an 80-75
score in Mishawaka on Jan. 3, click here for recap). It is the fourth
time in Daugherty’s five years as head coach that Goshen has taken
one of the two meetings from the Pilots. The loss marked the Leafs’ sixth
straight league defeat, though those losses have come by an average of
just four points per game.
“We are close to getting back to the form we need to have as post-season
approaches,” Daugherty said. “We are getting better each time
out, and that is important. I thought that Jordan Buller played
well today and managed the game for us from the point guard position.
Tyler Stotler
played well off the bench. Brice Hartman continues to play good
basketball and Eric Walsh had an outstanding effort. Overall, I was pleased
with
our effort and intensity for the game. It is important that we
compete at our highest level for the rest of the season.”
The tasks only get tougher for the squad this week, as the Leafs
will hit the road in facing the nation’s second- and 11th-ranked
teams. Number two Huntington University is next on the slate, with the
game scheduled for Tuesday night in HU’s Merrilat Complex. Game
time is set for 7 p.m. |
  Senior
Jordan Buller
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